When my kids were young, I visited Stockholm frequently and eventually made the Sheraton Stockholm my regular hotel. There is still a photo in my office of my older kid at around age 4 or 5, looking out over Gamla Stan from a room in the front of the hotel.

My older kid is now 21 and today I returned to the Sheraton Stockholm for the first time in at least 5 years. Everything pretty much looks the same as it did when my kid was 5. They've updated the furniture -- once, some years back; there's high speed (expensive) internet access; and they are advertising more comfortable beds, but the look and feel of the hotel is still the same as it was so many years ago,

What does that mean?

--tiny bathrooms, tiny rooms (mostly), tiny windows
--no individually controlled thermostats in the rooms
--no in-room safes
--a vending machine-like fridge, with no space for my stuff
--half the rooms still overlook a gloomy central rectangular courtyard
--tiny, ancient TV sets
--gloomy flourescent light fixtures
--towels parcelled out like they were made of gold

Yeah, the hotel is OK, maybe even good, by Scandinavian standards. But I feel like I am back into the 80s, and it is time to move on. But then, there may not be any decent competition in town, so they don't have to.